Archives for the Month of June, 2012

“Hello World!”

From the first ever Agile Adventure to be created! Get your copy from Leanpub here. Journey on your own or go on an adventure and read it with your team and your friends. Most important of all, have fun!

Launch Day of ‘The Dream Team Nightmare’

After a gargantuan team effort with plenty of help from my friends, on 6 June 2012, we’ll be releasing the first complete version of ‘The Dream Team Nightmare’, the first in the Agile gamebook series called ‘Agile Adventures’. We very much hope you will have as much fun reading it as we have had in creating it!

Jenni Jepsen, Communications Strategist (and Agile Enthusiast), says:
“Reading ‘The Dream Team Nightmare’ is a fun and involving way to understand the basics of Agile, the common challenges practitioners face, and practical ways to address them in your organization. Portia brings in tools as part of the story that those new to Agile, and perhaps not so new, can put into immediate use.”

Yves Hanoulle, Creative Collaboration Agent, says:
“What you are holding in your hands, is a rare piece of art. Art usually is created in a very short time, yet it can not be created without the lifetime and the experience of the artist. Not only has Portia managed to put so much wisdom into this book, she has also reinvented the format of Agile books. Although it looks like a book, it’s also a course, a game, an adventure, a quiz, dare I say even a fairytale? This was the funniest, most inspiring agile book I have ever read. It instantly became my favorite book to give away.”

Dyan Corutiu, Software Developer, says:
“The Dream Team Nightmare is a crash course in Agile. This game captures the essence of Agile in very simple words and examples. I strongly recommend it to all players involved in building software products, from technical to product people. Engaging, entertaining and painfully realistic at the same time, it serves both as a gentle introduction to the Agile mindset and good reminder of the values embraced by teams who consistently deliver valuable software.”

Sandro Mancuso, founder of the London Software Crafts- manship Community, says:
“Great introduction to Agile, full of real-life experience and techniques that can be applied immediately. Portia shows, in a very engaging, unique and fun way, how a sequence of small decisions and the way we interact with people can determine the success (or failure) of a project.”

Staffan Noteberg, author of “Pomodoro Technique Illustrated”, says:
“The Game of life is to try, learn and adapt through small and frequent experiments. Portia’s book gives you the unique opportunity to understand Agile in an experimen- tal way. The palette of problems and creative solutions, presented in this book, will surprise experienced Agile practitioners as well as new enthusiasts.”

“‘The Dream Team Nightmare’ is the most compelling and intriguing ‘business novel’ that I have read so far. The message is so well wrought into the narrative flow that you barely notice you are learning a lot. The style of making assumptions, validating them to keep track of what you learn and plan to do is that of an effective change artist. To explicitly identify options, deferring decisions to keep options open, not only makes reading this gamebook very exciting, it is also part of the method you see applied. I highly recommend this book to agile readers of all experience levels. You will learn. Let Agile Adventures entertain you!”